Wizarding school
A wizarding school (also called a magical school) was an educational institution which provides magical instruction to young witches and wizards. There were eleven long-established and prestigious wizarding schools throughout the world, all of which were registered with the International Confederation of Wizards. Smaller and less well-regulated institutions were rarely registered with the appropriate Ministry and are difficult to keep track of. However, most countries in the world did not have their own wizarding school. Magical children in these countries were typically homeschooled or educated via correspondence courses. School locations The exact location of most wizarding schools is kept secret, both to prevent the schools from being discovered by Muggles and to protect them from the harmful effects of war or interference by domestic or foreign governments. Generally, magical schools are situated in landlocked, mountainous areas, which are difficult to access without magic and easier to defend in case of attack. There are, however, exceptions, such as Mahoutokoro School of Magic located on the island of Minami Iwo Jima and Castelobruxo in the Amazon rainforest. Range and regulation The vast majority of countries in the world did not have their own wizarding school. Wizards and witches in these countries generally chose to homeschool their children instead. Correspondence courses were also sometimes used as a cost-effective method of providing magical instruction to young witches and wizards in countries with very small or isolated wizarding populations. in Japan riding to school on a giant storm petrel]] Wizarding schools generally admitted students from whatever country in which they were based, but some served multiple nations or a broad geographical region, or at least were open to accepting international students on a selective basis. Castelobruxo, Ilvermorny and Uagadou accepted students from all over their respective continents, @naunihalpublic Uagadou takes students from all over Africa, but it is in Uganda. #IAgreePottermoreShouldSayThatWillChangeDescription by J. K. Rowling on Twitter.com whereas Hogwarts only accepted students from the United Kingdom and Ireland.[http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/1999/0799-telegraph-cleave.html 3 July 1999 interview in the Telegraph][http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2000/0700-swns-alfie.htm 8 July 2000 South West News Service interview] The school with the smallest number of students was Mahoutokoro, and the school with the most students was Uagadou. Some schools also enforced special restrictions with regard to the admission of students. The Durmstrang Institute, for example, did not accept Muggle-born witches and wizards. The Educational Office of the International Confederation of Wizards was responsible for cataloguing and overseeing wizarding schools around the world, namely the eleven oldest, most respected ones. Smaller wizarding schools existed, but these were often short-lived and poorly-regulated, as most were not registered with the respective Ministry of Magic of the country in which they operated. The quality of magical education on offer at these smaller, unregistered institutions was thus questionable. Africa was known to have been home to a number of smaller wizarding schools in addition to Uagadou. The book An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe covered publicly available information on various wizarding schools in Europe. Interaction between schools students arriving at Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament in 1994]] Every five years, a competition known as the Triwizard Tournament was held between the three major European wizarding schools: Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, and Hogwarts. One champion was selected to represent each school (with the exception of the 1994 Triwizard Tournament, when Hogwarts ended up with two champions) to compete in an array of deadly challenges. The winning school received the Triwizard Cup. The Wizarding Schools Potions Championship was held in seven-year intervals between students of Hogwarts, Koldovstoretz, Mahoutokoro and Uagadou. The winning school received a golden cauldron. Castelobruxo in Brazil offered student exchange programmes to pupils at wizarding schools in Europe. There was apparently also an international pen-friend programme in place for students of Castelobruxo and Hogwarts. Bill Weasley wanted to take an exchange trip to Castelobruxo, but had to back out because his family could not afford the expense, leading his upset Castelobruxo pen-friend to send him a cursed hat. Beauxbatons Academy of Magic also offered student exchange programme. Specialised schools Outside of general education, the wizarding world offers specialised schools of learning as well. Such schools include the Academy of Broom Flying, Charm School, Euro-Glyph School of Extraordinary Languages, Merge School of Under-Water Spellage and the Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts. Known wizarding schools Behind the scenes *The Salem Witches' Institute was once thought by some fans to be a wizarding school in the United States. J. K. Rowling has since revealed that the Salem Witches' Institute is a play on the Women's Institute in Britain..@jgrahamhutch The Salem Witches' Institute isn't a school, but a joke on the Women's Institute in the UK. by J.K. Rowling on Twitter *It is unknown how Muggle-borns in countries without a magical school receive a magical Education or if there are Muggle-borns unaware of their powers: this could cause issues regarding the Statute of Secrecy. **One method could be said that they can attend schools with a wider acceptance range. (Ex: a Portuguese Muggle-born could attend Beauxbatons Academy of Magic or a Canadian Muggle-born could attend Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.) **It is possible that some independant teachers that are not employed by any school have specialised in teaching muggle-borns. Before the founding of Hogwarts, Queen Maeve was famous for teaching young Irish wizards, and Pottermore states that home-schooling is still common in the wizarding world. *Until the summer of 1994, Harry Potter had not given much thought to wizarding schools outside of Hogwarts. It was only when he saw some foreign students and informed by Hermione Granger that they must attend Beauxbatons that he became aware of this. Appearances * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Notes and references ca:Escola de màgia de:Internationale Zaubererschulen fr:Écoles de sorcellerie pl:Szkoły czarodziejów ru:Школы магии Category:Magical schools